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Our apartment
Originally uploaded by mnystedt.

This is the building in Abu Dhabi where our apartment is. We’re on the first floor, and it’s a large, three-bedroom apartment.

Abu Dhabi Corniche
Originally uploaded by mnystedt.

Last night we went on a dinner cruise in a Dhow (traditional wooden boat) along the Abu Dhabi Corniche. This photo was taken from the Dhow before it took off and I was lucky to get a pretty steady shot.

CNet:

General Motors is expected to announce a new laptop next week that’s styled after its popular Hummer multi-terrain vehicles.

The carmaker has signed an exclusive three-year licensing agreement with Spokane, Wash.- based Itronix to make a portable computer designed for people who work outdoors: policemen, firemen, claims adjusters and construction workers, for example, as well as people who own a Hummer and are fascinated by anything related to the oversize vehicles.

Itronix, which makes laptops and tablet PCs for the U.S. military, said it wanted to style a new category of “semi-ruggedized” laptop. Priced at $2,988, the laptops come with enough padding to survive six separate drops from a height of 30 inches onto two 3/4-inch sheets of plywood placed on top of concrete.

Industrial-strength laptops, which are water-resistant and can withstand extreme temperatures, are finding their way onto the battlefield and the oil field. Models like the Panasonic Toughbook, and Twinhead, with its Durabook line, also come with external body armor and internal shock absorbers.

Large cars are popular here in the UAE, especially Toyota Land Cruisers, but there ar ealso Hummers around. So a Hummer laptop will probably get popular here

For the last two days I have been watching the coverage of Katrina and all my heart goes out to everyone affected.  Coming from the coast of South Carolina, I and my family has been through many Hurricanes, but we have never been through anything like that.  The worst that I have been through is Hugo, but we were far away that we only saw a little of what he could do.  But I did see the damage after the storm, from Myrtle Beach to Charleston and it was amazing that something could cause that much damage.  

Magnus thinks I’m strange sometimes (can you believe that???), but when they are the prefect storm, they are beautiful.  I have been tracking storms for as long as I can remember.  My Mom and Dad would give my brother and I a tracking map and let us follow the storms, when we where very young. We got pretty good at tracking them.  Magnus has been through a couple of storms, himself now.  The only time I got really scared was when Floyd hit just north of us, because I was not there.  I was in Sweden, on my way back to Scotland, and I was so worried about my family and friends.  LOL It is funny, that I would probably not be scared at all if I would have been with my family.  Well I started this post to say that my heart and prayers go out to every one that has been affected by Katrina, they have a long road ahead of them and I wish them all the best.  

Now to the topic of food here…  For about 110 Dirhams each (less than $20.00 around $30), we can have a big all-you-can-eat buffet. But for lunch you can find buffets for about 40 to 50 Dirhams (around $10.00 around $11-14). The buffets are different here in that you go to different stations (as they are called) and order your food. That way the food is hot and fresh. One night we ate at a Seafood Buffet, and it was wonderful. The price also includes your drinks and dessert, and let’s not start on the desserts. They are wonderful!!! There’s restaurants with food from all over the world here and if you cannot find something you’d like to eat, it’s your problem. Since there’s so much to choose from, it’s a bit hard sometimes to decide. All restaurants we’ve tried so far has been very good and we look forward to try many more.

Rumors are everywhere concerning what Apple might announce on September 7th. Personally I still want to see an Apple Tablet.

Khaleej Times:

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) is all set to take over management control of Pakistan Telecommunication Company early next month following its final payment of remaining $2.25 billion out of the total $2.598 billion bid it submitted in June this year.

Unimpeachable sources in the PTCL informed Khaleej Times yesterday that the Etisalat would submit the remaining 90 per cent of the bid money during this week to complete the transaction of 26 per cent shares of PTCL with its management control to Etisalat.

“Etisalat has already deposited 10 per cent ($250 million) of the total bid money and remaining 90 percent amount ($2.25 billion) would be deposited during this week,” the sources said.

“The Dubai-based telecom company has arranged the funds for the payment of remaining 90 per cent bid money to the government of Pakistan,” they said.

According to sources, the deal would be 25 per cent financed through equity and 75 per cent through bank lending. Dubai Islamic Bank will provide 10 per cent of the equity and 10 per cent of the debt component.

The UAE company saw off rival bids with its offer for a 26 per cent stake and management control of the PTCL in June this year. The runner-up in Pakistan’s biggest privatisation was China Mobile, which offered $1.409 billion.

Etisalat expects the $2.59 billion investment will pay off within five years. It is also executing expansion plans in Saudi Arabia and also has worked out plans to buy some of the communication companies in Turkey and six West African states.

Khaleej Times:

Dubai Municipality has announced their participation in Gitex Dubai 2005 under the Dubai egovernment umbrella.

Throughout the duration of Gitex, Dubai Municipality (DM) will be showcasing a wide range of eservices to spread awareness and promote these services among Dubai’s residents.

The services that the civic body will be focusing on during Gitex include e-tendering management service, centralised billing presentment service, Dubai Municipality Clinic health certificate, food control health certificates, food import and export and online advertisement permit eservice, according to a Press release issued yesterday.

“Dubai Municipality has been participating in Gitex as a part of Dubai egovernment. In the recent years, there has been a marked increase in the use of electronic services among various segments of Dubai’s population including the corporate sector and the residents,’ said Abdul Majed Abdul Rahman, Assistant Director of Information Technology Department, Dubai Municipality.

“Keeping in line with the changing requirements of customers in the emirate, Dubai Municipality has been constantly developing new eservices with the use of the latest technology, to simplify the lives of our customers.’ “Gitex Dubai 2005 presents ample opportunities for the municipality to showcase and promote its services to a huge audience.

GulfNews:

Internet services in the UAE should be completely back to normal now although some users have reported that they still seem to be a bit slow.

Etisalat said yesterday that the second of two cables broken during monsoon weather a month ago had been fixed.

All services, including commercially important ones such as online trading, which some users claimed did not work after the breakages, are supposed to be back up and running.

However, some users contacted by Gulf News said yesterday afternoon that, while much improved compared to the start of the month, internet use was still slow.

One regular user said that downloading was now rapid but browsing web pages was still slower than it should be. “I cannot see much difference in speed compared to a few days ago. There’s not much improvement,” he said.

Crystal has started a blog of her own (and I guess I’ll pitch in some) at http://emiratesadventure.blogspot.com. It’s primarily intended as a way to keep in touch with our families at home but I’m sure it’ll find other uses as well.

Concerning this site I have some plans for what I’ll do with it but it’ll be a while before I get around to doing anything substantial about it. So until then I will keep posting on various issues, but probably less than I have been doing.

Update: As of 18 September 2005 we’ve moved the blog from the location mentioned above to this site.